Packard Hall, 5 W. Cache La Poudre St., on the Colorado College campus. The event is free and open to the public.For Immediate Release
Contact:
Leslie Weddell
(719) 389-6038
Leslie.Weddell@ColoradoCollege.edu
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Oct. 16, 2009 – The music of composer Lori Laitman, CC’s distinguished visiting composer, will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, in Packard Hall, 5 W. Cache La Poudre St., on the Colorado College campus. The event is free and open to the public.
Laitman is one of America's most prolific and widely performed composers of art song. She has composed nearly 200 songs set to the poetry of classical and contemporary poets, and has created a unique body of work commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. She recently completed her first full-length opera, "The Scarlet Letter," to Colorado College English Professor David Mason’s new libretto, based on the classic Hawthorne novel. The opera was commissioned by the University of Central Arkansas and premiered there in November 2008.
Laitman and Mason are continuing as collaborators on a new opera, based on Mason’s award-winning verse novel, “Ludlow.” Currently they are working on “Vedem,” a Holocaust oratorio which tells the story of the boys at Terezin and their secret journal. “Vedem” was commissioned by Music of Remembrance and will premiere at Benaroya Recital Hall in Seattle on May 10, 2010.
"It is difficult to think of anyone before the public today who equals her exceptional gifts for embracing a poetic text and giving it new and deeper life through music," writes the Journal of Singing.
Laitman's song cycle "The Seed of Dream," also was commissioned by Music of Remembrance. The work sets the poetry of Vilna Ghetto survivor Abraham Sutzkever, and was released on Naxos to critical acclaim. The European premiere of the cycle took place in 2008 in Vilnius, Lithuania, performed by Norwegian baritone Stein Skjervold, and baritone Wolfgang Holzmair sang the work in his native Austria in February 2009. The Australian premiere of the work is set for 2010.
“Within These Spaces,” Laitman’s latest solo CD, which was released in May, is receiving exceptional praise, with American Record Guide saying, “This is music of depth and richness that connects with the soul.”
Since launching her career in 1991, Laitman’s music has been performed frequently in the U.S. and abroad. Some recent U.S. venues include the Frye Art Music and Benaroya Hall in Seattle; the Kennedy Center and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.; Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Hall in New York; and the USC Fisher Museum in Los Angeles, CA. Her discography includes releases on Albany Records, Naxos, Channel Classics and other labels.
Laitman graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and received a master’s degree in flute performance from the Yale School of Music.
For information, directions or disability accommodation at the event, members of the public may call (719) 389-6607.
About Colorado College
Colorado College is a nationally prominent, four-year liberal arts college that was founded in Colorado Springs in 1874. The college operates on the innovative Block Plan, in which its 1,975 undergraduate students study one course at a time in intensive 3½-week blocks. The college also offers a master of arts in teaching degree. For more information, visit www.ColoradoCollege.edu <http://www.ColoradoCollege.edu>.